Knitted product and method of forming



May 9, 1950 c. F. scHUEssLER 2,506,745

KNITTED PRODUCT AND METHOD OF FORMING Filed May l5, 1947 Patented May 9,i1950 KNITTED PRODUCT AND METHOD F FORMING Carl F. Schuessler, Chicago,Ill., assignor to Schuessler Knitting Mills, Inc., Chicago, Il l., acorporation of Illinois Application May 13, 1947, Serial No. 747,603

4 Claims.

rlhis invention relates to a knitted product and method of forming thesame.

In the knitting of tubular bodies, such as knitted caps, knitted gloves,and a variety of other tubular knitted garments and fabrics, it is thecommon practice to employ the terminal thread at the end of the knittedtubular piece, through the extending stitch loops, so as to gather allthe loops and thus close the end of the garment or body. This practiceeffectively secures the end of the garment, but because of the mass ofloops there is an irregular and overlapped end portion which is bulkyand unattractive in appearance. Such a bulky end has deep valleys andoverlapping portions which become set in a deiinite relation upon theclosing of the end.

in the closing of the nger portions of a knitted glove, by reason of thetendency of the ends of the fingers to set in a particular arrangementor channels and overlapping portions, the glove is obliged to remaineither as a righthand or as a lefthand glove, and the same cannot besatisfactorily changed by manipulation of the finger ends to convert itfrom a right or lefthand glove into the mating glove.

In the closing of a tubular knitted cap, the mass of loops bunchtogether and form an irregular knot or top which represents Wastematerial and presents an unattractive appearance.

An object of the present invention is to provide a product and processwherein a heavy bunching of loops at the end of the garment to be closedis avoided and a smooth end portion produced. A further object is toprovide a method and means whereby a tubular knitted body is closed,with the loops thereof formed in successive circles Whereby a relativelysmooth exterior surface is produced. Yet another object is to providemeans for closing the finger portions of a knitted glove in such amanner that the glove can be converted readily from a righthand glove toa lefthand glove by manipulation of the knitted glove body and fingerends. A still further object is to provide a knitted cap having the topportion thereof formed with successive tiers or loops to provide asmooth portion extending the top portion of the head and eliminatingexcess stitches heretofore employed and 'oh form an unattractive mass atthe top of the A further object is to provide a product and process forproducing the same in which any tubular garment having a projectingcircle of stitch loops may be eifectively closed by a very simpleprocess whereby the loops are caused to lie in a series of separatecircles spaced from each other and forming a smooth merging of the loopsinto a uniformly-rounded end portion of the tubular body. Other specicobjects and advantages will appear as the specication proceeds.

The invention is illustrated in selected embodiments, by theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a knitted glove illustrating myinvention; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the end portion of a finger ofthe glove, with a portion of the loops engaged by the terminal thread;Fig. 3, a View similar toy Fig. 2 but showing the engaged threads drawntogether and the remaining loops engaged by the terminal thread; Fig. 4,a View similar to Fig. 3 but showing the second group of stitches drawntogether to complete the closure of the ringer; Fig. 5, a, top plan viewof a knitted cap with half of the loops engaged by the terminal thread;and Fig. 6, a broken perspective view showing the rst group of threadsdrawn together and the second group of threads engaged by the terminalthread.

In the illustration ygiven in Figs. 1 to 4. incluive, It] designates aknitted glove having the fingers II, I2, I3 and I4. The nger II showsthe knitted end portion of the finger prior to any step for closing thesame. The open end of the knitted finger has the usual series ofstitched loops I5 and the terminal thread or yarn It.

In the practice of my invention, the terminal thread I6 is passedthrough a portion only of the loops present. As illustrated in Fig. 2,the terminal thread it is passed through every other loop,thusskippingeachintermediate loop I5. The terminal thread I6 is then drawnafter to bring the engaged loops together in the first concentric circleof loops I'I, as shown in Fig. 3. The terminal thread I5 is then passedthrough the remaining loops l5, and when the terminal thread is drawn,it brings the second series of loops into a circle which lies outside ofthe first circle Il, the finished end being illustrated in Fig. 4. Theterminal thread I5 is then passed by means of a needle through thefinished end to secure it therein and the loose end thereof cut oif, asin the usual practice.

In the above operation, it will be noted that there is first formed aninner circle of loops II in which the loops are brought together in acompact circle. Secondly, the remaining groups are engaged and drawntogether so as to form a second circle lying without and enclosing therst circle. There is thus no tendency for the material to bunch becausethe second tier of loops is relatively small and it lies outside of thefirst group, thus forming a smooth even exterior.

In the structure illustrated in Figs. and 6, I8 designates a knittedtubular cap. Here again, the terminal thread I6a is passed through onlyhalf of the extending stitches or loops l5a and these stitches are drawntogether, as shown in Fig. 6, to form an inner ring or circle ofstitches |18. The terminal thread IB is then passed through theremaining stitches or loops, as illusstrated in Fig. 6, and suchstitches may then be drawn together to form a circle overlapping the rstcircle Ila of stitches. The result is a smooth, rounded top, with aminimum of irregularities.

In the case of the knitted glove which has been described in Figs. 1 to4, the glove may be readily changed from a righthand glove to a lefthandglove by manipulating the knitted material so as to bring the thumb tothe desired relative position with respect to the ngers. In glovesheretofore knitted by the old method of drawing together all of theloops, this result was not practicable because the heavy bunching of theloops at the end of the lingers gave a set to the glove, preventing sucha reversal. It has, therefore, been the practice to knit gloves asrighthand gloves and lefthand gloves, a practice which has beenexpensive and which results in gloves that cannot satisfactorily bemodied after being knitted with respect to such right and left-handcharacteristics.

The closing process has been described in connection with speciiicgarments for illustrative purposes. It will be understood that theprocess is. applicable to a wide variety of knitted tubular bodies.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth singleembodiments of the invention for the purpose of illustration, it will beunderstood that the details of structure described may be varied Widelyby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

1. A tubular knitted glove having a nger thereof closed by means of aplurality of circles 4 of stitch loops drawn from a single row, saidloops being engaged by the terminal thread of the finger, said circlesof loops being concentric.

2. In a process for closing the end of a tubular knitted body having arow of stitch loops and a terminal thread, the steps of passing theterminal thread through a portion only of said loops, drawing saidthread to bring said engaged loops together to form an inner circle ofloops, passing said thread through the remaining loops, and then drawingsaid thread to bring said remaining loops together to form an outercircle of loops.

3. In a process for closing an end of a tubular knitted body having arow of stitch loops and a terminal thread, the steps of passing theterminal thread through a portion only of said loops, drawing saidthread to form an inner circle of loops, passing said thread throughsome of the remaining loops, and then drawing said thread to bring saidthread-engaged remaining loops together in an outer circle of loops.

4. In a process for closing an end of a tubular knitted body having arow of stitch loops and a terminal thread, the steps of passing saidthread selectively through every other loop, drawing said threadtogether to form an inner circle of loops, passing said thread throughthe remaining loops, and drawing said thread to bring said remainingloops into an outer circle of loops lying without said first-mentionedcircle of loops.

CARL F. SCHUESSLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,941,508 Zwicker Jan. 2, 19342,030,959 Buchholtz Feb. 18, 1936 2,039,932 Riggs May 5, 1936 2,069,021Schuessler Jan. 26, 1937 2,411,452 Mills Nov. 19, 1946

